Five Tips to Better DRTV

There's an old saying that a person doesn't buy a drill because he needs a drill; he buys a drill because he needs a hole. In order to effectively reach an end-results-oriented audience, DRTV campaigns need to have compelling messages and offers that resonate with prospects and communicate “what's in it for them.”

Below are some tips on creating successful DRTV spots offered by Ava Seavey, president of advertising and marketing communications firm Avalanche Creative Services, in a session at the DMA 2006 Annual Conference & Exhibition this past October:

1. Position your Web site URL as big as, if not bigger than, your 1-800 number. Seavey says some of her clients are getting almost 50 percent conversions on the Web as opposed to directly calling the 800 number.

2. Craft a compelling message that drives home your organization's unique offering. “I think the differentiation factor is really huge,” Seavey says, “especially when you consider that with direct-response TV you're not just competing against other charitable organizations; you're really competing against everything on television. So you'd better stand out. You'd better break through the clutter. You'd better be very, very conscious of who your target demographic is and really embrace them.”

3. Create a branded, professional message. Graphics are extremely important — everything from voice-over to music to the images on the screen. Consumers and donors alike don't want to be associated with anything that looks cheap or unprofessional.

4. Have programs in place that can measure things such as the ROI of your media dollars. “In most cases, nonprofits use DRTV for lead generation. So what happens on the back end will determine how successful the DRTV spot was. Sometimes you won't know for three to six months how successful your campaign is, but then how you work your database on the back end and using other techniques such as outbound telemarketing and really monitoring your Web conversions will help you determine [the results],” Seavey says.